In a submission to media regulator Ofcom’s consultation on the proposed purchase, the Church’s lead spokesman on media issues, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester, says:
“This inquiry is welcome and timely because the vitality and plurality of the media, especially in combination with a strong public service remit, is essential to the maintenance of a well-informed democracy. There is an ongoing need for strong and effective regulation of cross-media ownership and media plurality. In Lord Puttnam’s words, the “overriding interest of the citizen” demands that there should be no diminution in the range of views and voices that can hold government and other interests to account. It is important to preserve a healthy media environment in which many different and diverse organisations, including public service broadcasters, can flourish.
“Our concerns are not about the nature of News Corporation: indeed, we would make these comments whichever commercial organisation might find itself in a potentially dominant market position….
And, is the BBC a broadcasting/news organization that is free of ‘political bias?’
Is the content of BBC broadcasts ‘fair and unbalanced’ and free of ‘politicizing’ by dominant groups that have ‘wormed’ their way into its ranks?
It’s probably more so than most of its American counterparts but still far removed from where it was even thirty years ago.
It’s worth recalling that in the early days under Lord Reith it was hardly politically balanced (if one assumes by that giving coverage to a broad spectrum of views).